Why it works: Syrup and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,235 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Prune Preserves
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the prunes and cook them until they can be easily pitted.
Pit the prunes and return them to the pot with syrup.
Cook until the prunes are well done, adding lemon juice or another flavor if desired.
Skim the prunes into a jar and pour the syrup over them.
Do not cook the syrup too long to avoid a strong flavor or jelling.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,235 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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